The world was not ready when the Covid-19 viral pandemic hit across several countries in 2020. It was evident in the way governments, public and corporations behaved.
The previous year is also known for establishing some tech-savvy changes in the corporate culture across the world as well. Namely, “analog” methods of company management were forced to transition towards more “digital” alternatives.
One major change to the dynamic of the corporate environment would be the integration of virtual conferencing or cross-conferencing platforms that allowed employees to stay at home and attend to their tasks.
Countries all over the globe had enforced safety parameters which included lockdowns and strict restrictions on public movement – all in a bid to curb the spread of the viral contagion. This lead to businesses opting for smarter digital choices that would allow for their activities to continue without hindrances. Thus, the virtual conferencing applications became the answer to their plights.
In 2020, several virtual conferencing applications saw a surge in its usage and activity. Applications such as Google Meet or Zoom saw spikes in their downloads from various application stores, owing to the fact that these were the “go-to” software in creating a virtual work-place.
But is work-from-home effective?
While most non-essential employees or workers found themselves receiving the advantage of attending to their work from home in 2020, it was also found that the new-found alternative to conventional corporate work culture had greatly improved the individual performances of employees as well.
An estimate by the popular freelancing platform reported that on estimate 1 in every 4 Americans expected to continue working remotely through 2021 as well. This is approximately 26% of the American workforce.
Meanwhile, studies have been conducted to gauge both the effectiveness and performance increment in workers who continued their work remotely.
In general, it was revealed that employees who were working from home spent 10-minutes “less a day being unproductive, work one more day a week and are 37% more productive.”
Moreover, a study by Stanford titled “Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment” had revealed that the performance of employees working from home observed a 13% increase “of which 9% was from working more minutes per shift”. The research was conducted on Ctrip – a 16,000 employee, NASDAQ-listed Chinese travel agency.
The same study had also confirmed that workers reported improved working satisfaction while attrition rates were sliced down by 50%.
WFH improves productivity
While the Stanford University study had revealed improved worker satisfaction and performance of employees working from home, another study had revealed that remote-work can improve productivity.
According to Aliah D. Wright in her article “Study: Teleworkers more productive – even when sick” she had reported the research of ConnectSollutions – a private-cloud solutions provider for Adobe Connect and Microsoft Lync, found that 77% of employees who worked remotely reported greater productivity while “working offsite” and 30% of these said that they had “accomplished more in less time” with 24% stating that they “accomplished more in the same amount of time.”
The Numbers Don’t Lie
There is no denying that such alternative work methods are still subject to dissention and discourse. There will be those who are in favor of such tech-savvy moves while there will be those who are accustomed to more conventional means.
And in some cases; going in that “old-school” route proves to be effective too – such as in the cases of emergency medical practitioners, fire and rescue, first-responders or even policing units to name some.
However, corporate environments where technology is at the forefront or even at the backdrop of their business; the integration of remote-work have proven to be the smarter choice. And they got the numbers to show it as well.
A two-year study by Great Place to Work which included more than 800,000 employees at Fortune 500 companies found that “most people reported stable or even increased productivity levels” once they had switched to working from home.
Furthermore, Prodoscore attests on an increase in productivity by 47% since March 2020 when compared with March and April of 2019. It was also found that workers have started to employ emailing and Customer Relationship Management software in order to stay connected with their co-workers as well as their clientele.
Another survey from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), dated June 2020, revealed 65% of US citizens having access to “fast enough” internet-connectivity to handle video calls, which was the most utilized method for employees at the States in communicating with their co-workers as well as their corporate affiliates and clients.
The Bottom Line
With the unprecedented shift in the global economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and corporations being pushed to their edges in maneuvering through these times; many had opted towards smarter solutions and alternative work methods to sustain productivity.
No singular approach is without its glitches and hiccups, and the concept of “work-from-home” (WFH) is not solidly perfect either. There will always be room for improvement.
However, the rise in productivity and employee satisfaction levels are a testament towards the effectiveness of this concept and also a reason for its sudden popularity. That and the rise in the necessity for such methods due to the external factors putting limitations on conventional work approaches – in this case, the Covid-19 pandemic.
So it might be a safe argument to make that while no single method is a 100% effective – and subject to the constant need of improvement – the newfound popularity of WFH based on its effectiveness, might just be the solid sell it requires to become the next “conventional norm.”
